“No,” I say, reaching out and bringing her to me. I can swear the heaviness that was in my chest is now lighter. I take her in my arms, and she wraps her arms around my waist, and I can die a happy man with her in my arms. A tear escapes my eye, and I don’t even know how long we stand here in the middle of my entryway hugging, but one thing I do know is I’m not letting her go.

“I missed you,” she finally says, and I feel the wetness to where her face is. “I missed you so much.” I let her go only to grab her face in my hands, my thumbs rubbing her cheeks.

“You are so beautiful,” I say. “You are the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen.”

I lean down and take her mouth with mine. Her tongue slides with mine, and when I pick her up, she wraps her legs around my waist as I carry her upstairs.

“We have to talk,” she pants out when I let her go to undress her. “Things have to be said.”

“I know,” I say. “I know.” I kiss her again. “And we will. I just need you.”

When she lies down and I slide into her, I’m home. “I love you,” I whisper in her ear, wrapping my fingers with hers beside her head. “I love you more than life.”

Her legs wrap around my hips. “I love you,” she says. “I love you,” is all either of us can say at this moment. I lose myself in her over and over again, and she does the same. The sun comes up, and we are still wrapped in each other. She lays her head on my chest with the sheet pulled up over us.

“I used to get up every morning,” she says, “and watch the sunrise.” She looks up at me.

“I can’t do this lying down. I need to get up.” She rips the sheet off her and then grabs one of my shirts and puts it on. “Okay, I’m good,” she says, and she takes a huge breath. “I drove to this town about forty minutes away from here.”

“Was it pretty?” I ask, and she smiles so big her whole face lights up.